Hawks guard misses Game 1 with strained hamstring

Kirk Hinrich's roller-coaster season continued on Monday night when his significantly strained right hamstring sidelined him for Game 1.

"I'm definitely still holding on to hope," Hinrich said, when asked if he could play for the Hawks later in the series. "I mean, you just never know. I'm just trying to concentrate my efforts on getting better and supporting my teammates."

Hinrich suffered the injury late in the Hawks' closeout victory over the Magic. It's another downer in a season where Hinrich got traded from the Bulls last summer, spent some miserable months with the rebuilding Wizards and then found new life with his trade-deadline move to the Hawks.

"When the trade happened, I was excited," Hinrich said. "It's been good. I feel like we're a very dangerous team."

They'd be more dangerous, obviously, with Hinrich.

"It's a big loss for us," said Jamal Crawford, another former Bull.

Happy hardware: Tom Thibodeau capped his busy day of well-wishers by accepting the Red Auerbach Coach of the Year award from NBA Vice President Stu Jackson in a pregame ceremony that jazzed the crowd. Thibodeau waved to the crowd.

That crowd included Thibodeau's parents, who flew in to catch just their second home game, and Jeff Van Gundy, for whom Thibodeau worked for with the Knicks and Rockets.

"He's been a close friend for a long time," Thibodeau said. "We've been through a lot together. It means a lot to me."

Thibodeau also fielded a congratulatory call from Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville early in the day.

Layups: Toni Kukoc presented the honorary game ball. ... Longtime Hawks vice president of public relations Arthur Triche lightheartedly left two tickets for Magic guard Jameer Nelson, who interrupted Derrick Rose's postgame interview after the Bulls and Magic played on April 10 to say "catch you in the second round." The Hawks eliminated the Magic. ... The Bulls enlisted Jim Cornelison, who typically sings his stirring rendition before Blackhawks games, to sing the national anthem.